"Help me! Someone help!", a voice rang out in the bitter cold night of the Sieghart Mountains.

On just such a night, rain in a torrent from the heavens above, a crimson cloaked figure walked briskly through the void of darkness. With a sense of wanderlust, Tomoe had gotten himself lost in the mountains at night and was now simply looking for a place to stay.

"Could've sworn this was the way to town...", he muttered to himself, his cloak's hood obscuring the top half of his face but not currently weaving its spell to change his appearance, instead merely offering simple protection from the elements as any regular cloak would.

"Help! Someone!", a voice in the distance rang out again, spurring a defeated and annoyed sigh from Tomoe as he closed the gap between them.

Through some bushes and trees, there lay a man, wounded and knelt against a tree. He was bleeding and bruised, with ripped clothes and a broken blade. Upon seeing the cloaked Joyan, he rose to his feet slowly and painfully, broken blade in hand in case he had run into a looter. While Tomoe was the type that enjoyed a good looting now and again as his old self, he was a new and reformed man these days. Instead, Tomoe's hands rose harmlessly in front of him.

"Whoa, buddy. Easy there. I'm not here to hurt ya, I just wanna know what's up.", the ronin spoke in a warm tone to try to calm the man down, which seemed to have worked well enough.

"My name is Cameron. A werewolf got to me... he was prowling the area, and he got me before I could get him. Last I saw he was headed towards town. Please, all I wanted was to protect them. That beast is going to kill them all. Please, I'll pay you whatever I can if you can stop him!"

At that, the man collapsed to his knees and once more leaned against the tree with some assistance from Tomoe. The man was barely holding on to consciousness, and spent his stamina to ask such a thing. On a request like that, seeing situations like this before where men would make requests that could be considered their 'final' requests, it wasn't something that the crimson cutthroat could turn down. Rather, on the promise of pay, he accepted wholeheartedly with a nod in confirmation. This allowed Cameron to relax somewhat, slipping into unconsciousness as rain pelted him from above.

"Better get to work then."

---

WC: 422/850 [15% reduction]

For the first time all night, Tomoe saw lights in the distance shortly after meeting Cameron. It had to be the village, all lit up like they were throwing a party. In the dark of night, in the wilderness where little light found its way around those who walked the mountains, such careless use of light would guide the path of many monsters. To beasts of darkness like Werewolves, such settlements would prove the undoing of mortals. They were places in which humans were basically inviting in any evils that might see them from the unending void beyond. Thankfully, it was merely a Werewolf in this case. No true cause for concern to Tomoe, whom saw the monster as more of a mutt running wild. It had to be put down, and any beast that had to be put down would not see any tears in the eyes of the crimson cutthroat.

As the Joyan entered the village, he drew his sword. It crackled as it unsheathed, the pelting water droplets from above sizzling and evaporating from the heat of the lightning running along the blade of the sword. It also served as a faint light to guide any perceptive prowlers to him, making his steps loud and imposing as he searched for the mongrel through the village. There were no screams or cries of pain, so either everyone was already dead or he had not yet struck anyone yet. After hearing some whispered conversations from inside houses as he passed by in the streets, Tomoe assumed that the answer was the latter, thankfully. Dead residents probably meant no pay.

Perceptive eyes shifting around and ears on full alert, Tomoe took note of any sounds out of the ordinary. Wherever this assassin was, it would be decided in a moment. The rushing storm of noise crashing from behind and closing in quickly as Tomoe reached the village square would signal that moment.

In that single moment before the Werewolf had made contact from behind, Tomoe had dropped his sword to the ground with his right hand and drew out his buckler with his left hand. At the same moment as that happened, he pivoted to face the beast with his buckler arm blocking the gnashing fangs of the Werewolf for a moment before breaking through.

"All I needed.", Tomoe breathed, ignoring the biting pain on his left hand that had held the buckler, the monster's teeth digging into his hand somewhat.

Just as the Werewolf sunk his fangs into Tomoe's blocking left hand, the Joyan used his right hand, now balled into a fist, to punch the Werewolf in the side of the head. A single punch would be all it would take with Tomoe's powerful strikes, caving in the mutt's head instantly as the shattering of bone and teeth could be heard echoing into the quiet village itself.

The Werewolf crumpled to the floor, defeated. The insides of his head had turned to mush, his neck becoming a slinky toy at the aftermath of the Joyan's strike. The sudden nature of the exchange was enough to cause villagers to come outside and see how things were, and cheered upon seeing the corpse of the Werewolf. After some ointment application and bandaging, Tomoe's hand was fine and ready for even worse treatment in the future. The alcohol had ended up stinging worse than the dog's bite had.

Cameron was treated for his injuries after Tomoe led the villagers to him, and after that, the warrior was paid handsomely for his services. For what was a nightly camping trip, Tomoe couldn't complain at the reward he was given. In addition to money, he was also handed... candy? Apparently they were called 'pumpkin pops' and were limited edition. Special, or something. Magical properties, even.

"Weird, but I'll roll with it. Thanks!", Tomoe exclaimed with a shrug and a nod of appreciation, before spending a night with the villagers and was then off on his way.

---

WC: 850/850 [15% reduction]

- Exit -